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BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2000

Marubeni and Tokyo Gas plan optical-fiber alliance

Trading firm Marubeni Corp. and Tokyo Gas Co. announced Thursday that they will form a business alliance to build next-generation broadband, fiber-optic networks using Tokyo Gas's underground pipes in urban business areas.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2000

BOJ must forgo rate hike, Aoki says

The government wants the Bank of Japan to keep its ultraeasy monetary policy intact to ensure an economic recovery, Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki indicated Thursday, apparently taking aim at growing views in the BOJ to end the policy.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2000

Uniqlo hired to revive Mitsukoshi

Mitsukoshi Ltd. said Thursday that its Yokohama store will rent out space for the first time to Uniqlo, a low-key brand known for inexpensive and trendy casual clothing -- in a bid to attract younger customers.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2000

Date for observing Kyoto Protocol unlikely to be set at G8 summit

In an apparent setback for environmentalists worldwide, top leaders of the Group of Eight major nations meeting in Okinawa next month are unlikely to set a specific target date for putting into effect the Kyoto Protocol on curbing global warming.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2000

Mori selects Ozato to chair LDP's Executive Council

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has informally appointed Sadatoshi Ozato, former chief of the Management and Coordination Agency, as chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Executive Council, LDP sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2000

Drop in DoCoMo stake feasible: NTT

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. may reduce its stake in cellular unit NTT DoCoMo Inc. but will not permit its ownership to drop below 50 percent, NTT executives said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2000

Dollar-yen rate to stay in limited range

With worries about Sunday's general election out of the way, the dollar-yen rate has returned to where it stood a week ago.
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 30, 2000

Real characters, made in Japan

KYOTO -- Humor may be, along with art and music, universal, but it often doesn't travel across borders very well. What has them rolling in the aisles in London may leave them rolling their eyes in Laos. A comedian who brings down the house in Athens, Greece, may receive only polite applause in Athens,...
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2000

FRC details rules on injecting capital into credit institutions

The Financial Reconstruction Commission unveiled guidelines Thursday for the injection of capital into credit associations and credit unions, the collapse of which could wreak havoc on local economies.
COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2000

Setback for ruling coalition

The June 25 Lower House election ended with a voter turnout of only 62.49 percent. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party suffered a sharp setback, with its strength decreasing to 233 seats from a pre-election figure of 271. On the other hand, the top opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, saw...
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2000

Dioxin emission levels down, but Japan is largest emitter

Estimated dioxin emissions in Japan dropped to between 2,620 grams and 2,820 grams in 1999, a roughly 63 percent fall from 1997 levels, according to Environment Agency figures released Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2000

Radical Hindus wrecking India's tolerant secularism

NEW DELHI -- The new millennium has been terribly cruel to Christians in India. Fanatical Hindu organizations -- which are wings of the country's ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- have unleashed a reign of terror on the second-largest minority group after the Muslims. Murder and mayhem and...
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2000

Teito to check for wheel-load imbalance

Tokyo-based subway operator Teito Rapid Transit Authority said Thursday that it will check and correct wheel-loads on all its 2,431 train carriages by the end of this year, based on a report by a Transport Ministry study panel.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2000

Key cultist sentenced to die for role in two sarin attacks

Senior Aum Shinrikyo follower Yasuo Hayashi was sentenced to death Thursday for releasing nerve gas on a Tokyo subway train in March 1995 and for his role in the deadly June 1994 sarin attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture.
EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2000

The money-laundering hall of shame

After years of mounting frustration, the world is cracking down on countries that launder money and shelter funds for criminal enterprises. Several recent reports have identified primary offenders in the fight against money laundering. Sanctions are not yet on the agenda, but shame alone seems to be...
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2000

Taisho gets 4.5 billion yen lifeline

The financially ailing Taisho Life Insurance Co. said Wednesday that it has avoided possible collapse by securing a pledge of 4.5 billion yen in fresh capital through outside funding.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2000

Danger of eruption tapers off

Fears of a volcanic eruption on Miyake Island tapered off Wednesday as experts from the Meteorological Agency said there was "no possibility" of an eruption on the eastern part of the island or at the top of Mount Oyama.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2000

Key to kids' learning English is fun approach and listening

A private advisory panel to Education Minister Hirofumi Nakasone set up to review and revise English-teaching methods in Japanese schools has recommended that entertaining methods be used to teach in elementary schools.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 29, 2000

Takahashi blasts Giants past Tigers

Yoshinobu Takahashi belted a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday to lift the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants to a 6-5 "sayonara" victory over the Hanshin Tigers at the Tokyo Dome.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2000

Record 530 HIV cases reported in '99

A record 530 cases of HIV infection were reported in Japan in 1999 while the number of newly detected AIDS cases also hit a record 300 last year, according to the Health and Welfare Ministry.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2000

Candidates slide in despite weak support

Nearly 60 percent of the 300 winners in single-seat constituencies in Sunday's House of Representatives general election were endorsed by less than 30 percent of the voters in their electoral districts, analyses of the results show.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2000

Medical group probes endoscope defects

A national association of medical and dental practitioners has begun questioning its members about defects in endoscopes and manufacturers' responses to complaints, according to a group bulletin made available Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2000

Employment, income make BOJ keep interest-rate policy

The Bank of Japan said Wednesday that it will maintain its "zero-interest-rate" policy, which has been in place since February last year.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2000

Mori scrambles to assign key Cabinet positions

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and top aides on Wednesday stepped up efforts to make key placements ahead of next week's Cabinet reshuffle, with coalition partner New Komeito likely to receive the health and welfare portfolio.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2000

Rules set for hunting, trapping

The government is set to ban the use of some steel-jawed, leg-holding animal traps, limit the number of traps per person, and allow hunting of female deer during the hunting season until 2005, according to an Environment Agency report released Wednesday.

Longform

The students at Mitaka Municipal No. 7 Junior High School have access to various cooling devices for when they play sports.
Japan's extreme heat is causing a rethink of school sports